NBA Playoffs 2022: Bulls, Pelicans, Mavericks, Hawks Are First-Round Long Shots Before Game 2

The 2022 NBA playoffs are only two days old, but a few teams are already given little chance to win their first-round series. The New Orleans Pelicans, Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, and Dallas Mavericks are the biggest underdogs in the bracket.

After losing Game 1, the Pelicans and Bulls are given virtually no chance to upset the favorites in the Western and Eastern Conference. The Hawks are expected to be bounced in the first round after making the playoffs with two play-in tournament wins. The Mavericks are long shots against the Utah Jazz because of Luka Doncic’s calf injury.

New Orleans is the biggest first-round underdog with +1400 odds at FanDuel Sportsbook to beat the Phoenix Suns. The Suns defeated the Pelicans 110-99 in Game 1 behind 30 points and 10 assists from Chris Paul.

Phoenix is a massive -3500 favorite at FanDuel to eliminate New Orleans. The Suns have +170 odds to sweep the Pelicans. Phoenix has the best odds to win the 2022 NBA Finals at +200.

With +470 odds to win the championship, the Bucks have the second-best odds in the league. Milwaukee is a -3000 favorite to beat Chicago, even though the Bulls pushed the defending champs to the brink in Game 1.

The Bulls trailed the Bucks by one point with 90 seconds left before Milwaukee pulled away for a 93-86 win Sunday. DeMar DeRozan’s playoff struggles returned with a 6-25 shooting performance in his first postseason game for Chicago. The Bulls have +1300 odds to win four out of the next six games.

In terms of playoff seeding, a win for the Hawks would be the biggest upset in the postseason. Atlanta has +530 odds to defeat the No. 1 seed Miami Heat. Miami blew out Atlanta 115-91 in Game 1 of their series.

Trae Young was held to a single field goal in the series opener. During last year’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals, Young averaged 28.8 points and 9.5 assists per game.

Dallas is the only team that is an underdog against a lower seed. The Mavericks have +430 odds to come back from their 1-0 series deficit against the Jazz.

Without Doncic in Game 1, Dallas fell 99-93 at home. Doncic is likely to miss at least one more game. If the Jazz win Game 2, they will return home for Game 3 and Game 4 with a chance to close out the series at home.

Utah has -590 odds to reach the second round for a matchup with Phoenix.